All trainee teachers will be required to complete work placements in special education settings under reforms aimed at ensuring schools can better meet the needs of growing numbers of students with additional needs.
The move comes amid a threefold increase in autism prevalence in the last decade and strains on the education system as authorities scramble to find appropriate school places and educators for children with special needs.
Minister for Education Helen McEntee is to ask the Teaching Council – which regulates the profession – to ensure teachers are trained to deliver high quality teaching to children of all abilities, including those with special educational needs.
She will say it is “imperative that all teachers are equipped to deliver to all children the education to which they are entitled so they can reach their full potential”.
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To achieve this, Ms McEntee is to ask the council to ensure student teachers have mandatory assessed placements in special needs settings, supported by appropriate modules.
The council will, initially, survey all teacher-training programmes to gain a deeper understanding of the landscape of school placement provision in special education settings.
This will feed into the development of guidance for higher education institutions later this year to support changes from September 2026.
Latest figures show about one in 20 schoolchildren – 5 per cent – is being diagnosed with autism, up from 1.5-1.6 per cent in less than a decade
This is projected to require hundreds of new special classes and special school places every year for the next three years to keep pace with demand at primary level, while the need for special education places at second level is also rising sharply.
Most experts put the rise in autism rates down to increased awareness, better diagnosis and widening of assessment boundaries for the condition.
Delays in accessing appropriate classes for children with additional and vital therapies have sparked protests from dozens of parents in recent weeks, including a 24-hour sleep-out in front of the Department of Education.
A department spokeswoman said Ms McEntee is determined that “every child be supported to achieve their full potential within our education system”.
She said she was committed to opening additional special classes and special schools, expanding the number of special needs assistants and special education teachers, and expanding the resources available to special schools.
“I have also committed to introducing a common application system for children applying for special education places, which has the potential to be a game changer for parents who need the information about their child’s place as early as possible in the year,” she said, in a statement.
A spokeswoman said the department is working to ensure there are enough places to meet children’s needs this September as well as ensuring the National Council for Special Education is planning for special needs places for the 2026/27 school year.
In addition, she said Ministers “will not hesitate” to use legislative provisions which allow them to compel schools to open special classes if required.
The plans drew a welcome from campaigners who have been calling for better support for children with additional needs.
Autism charity AsIAm chief executive Adam Harris said it was critically important that every autistic child has access to an appropriate education in their community.
He said the steps being announced were “an important step forward in this regard” in creating an inclusive education system, and called for mandatory training in autism and inclusive practice for teachers who have already qualified.
